flash fiction
August 11, 2017

Robot Taxidermy

It is the dogs and cats that are run over by cars that I can’t fix. No matter how hard I try, they never come out ok. Everything else I’m good.

I build robots for a living. I build them small or large. I build robots that talk, robots that play chess, robots that do chores and run errands. But without a doubt the most popular robots I make, the ones everyone is asking about, are the pet-robots.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking. Everybody makes pet robots these days. True. But nobody makes pet robots like I do.

When I was starting out in the business I simply copied the skeleton of cats and dogs to build a small companion robots. Then a customer asked for a robot they could cuddle with. So I added padding and fur to one of my most popular models. That was definitely a success. But that wasn’t my big hit.

My big hit is what I call Back-2-Life pet-robots. Here is the deal, you bring me your dead pet and I’ll give you a pet-robot that is almost identical to your deceased animal.

If I get your pet within 24 hours–this is very important–I can, almost without a hitch, build a perfect size replica of the body and use the fur for the skin. Truth is the robot doesn’t have your pet’s personality, but at least you can program it to behave exactly as you always wanted.

No more accidents in the living room, no more special food, no more vet visits, and specially, no more picking up poop in plastic bags. Most of my clients like the mechanical version of their pets more than they ever loved their pets in life.

All of that I can do for you and for your pet. That is unless your cat has been run over by a car. Try as I may I can’t put those things back together again.

August 11, 2017 · #101ToF · #Fiction · #Flash Fiction




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